WP Query results showing posts outside of category ID

Question

I have a custom post type called 'rooms' and I have categories assigned to specific rooms so they will order on the page in a specific way. The category IDs are 8, 9, and 10.

When I pull the below WP Query for a specific category, all of the rooms show up regardless of the category. I'm not quite sure where I'm going wrong but I feel that it is in my array args. Any help would be appreciated.

<?php 
$args = array(
    'numberposts'   => -1,
    'post_type'     => 'rooms',
    'category_ID'       => '8',);

$the_query = new WP_Query( $args );?>

<?php if( $the_query->have_posts() ): ?>
    <?php while( $the_query->have_posts() ) : $the_query->the_post(); ?>

        <div class="room-single">
                <img src="<?php the_post_thumbnail_url(); ?>" class="room-preview-image">
                <div class="room-single-content">
                <a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>"><h3><?php the_title(); ?></h3></a>
                <p><?php the_field('room_excerpt'); ?></p>
                <a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>">View the <?php the_title(); ?> room</a>
                </div>

            </div>
    <?php endwhile; ?>

<?php endif; ?>

<?php wp_reset_query();  // Restore global post data stomped by the_post(). ?>

Answer 1

category_ID is not a valid key for WP_Query. cat would be available instead, if you want to query a category:

Example:

$args = array(
    'numberposts' => -1,
    'post_type'   => 'rooms',
    'cat'         => 8,
);

$the_query = new WP_Query( $args );

If your category is not actually the taxonnomy category but a custom taxonomy, this would be another way to query it:

$args = array(
    'numberposts' => -1,
    'post_type'   => 'rooms',
    'tax_query' => array(
        array(
            'taxonomy' => 'your-category-taxonomy',
            'terms'    => 8,
        ),
    ),
);

$the_query = new WP_Query( $args );

Hope this helps.